Current Status

4 June 2015, openly gay Vice Speaker of the Guam Legislature, Senator B.J. Cruz, has announced his introduction of a bill that would extend critical workplace protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The bill is expected to move in the coming weeks.

NOTE REGARDING DATES/TIME: When stateside and reading news stories coming from Guam, please keep in mind that Guam is in the Chamorro Time Zone, which is 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

In 2009, there were several attempts to pass legislation that would recognized same-sex relationships. In June 2009, Bill 138 was introduced, which would have created Civil Unions granting gay and lesbian couples all the rights and obligations of heterosexual married spouses. That was followed by the introduction of Bill 185, a gay-inclusive domestic partnership bill. Bill 185 would have granted domestic partners all the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law, whether derived from statutes, administrative rules, court decisions, the common law, or any other source of civil law, that spouses receive. In August 2009, Bill 212 was introduced. Bill 212 was extremely diluted and would have created agreements between designated gay and lesbian couple beneficiaries,granting them 15 rights – centered mostly on hospital visitations. None of these bills passed.

Following the 2013 SCOTUS ruling in United States v. Windsor, both the IRS and the Department of Labor (DOL) wrote that for their purposes the term "spouse" refers to any individual who is lawfully married under any state law, including individuals married to a person of the same sex who were legally married in a state that recognizes such marriages, but who are domiciled in a state that does not recognize such marriages. This applies to Guam.

13 April 2015, Loretta Pangelinan and Kathleen Aguero were the first-same sex couple to apply for the document in the U.S. territory. The women responded to the refusal by filing a federal lawsuit in federal district court.

16 April 2015, the plaintiffs filed an amended request for an expedited ruling "...in order to address recent developments.""There is no effective or meaningful remedy for the loss of Constitutional rights; the only remedy of any value is swift justice. Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court grant an expedited ruling."

4 May 2015, the defendants filed a Motion asking the court to put this case on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the marriage cases or, in alternative, to grant an extension of at least 14 days to respond to the plaintiffs' complaint, etc. They also filed a Memo in Support of the Motion and a Declaration in support of the motion.

5 May 2015, Order filed setting briefing schedule on Guam's motion to put the case on hold.- Plaintiffs' response due by May 7 at 3:00 p.m. - Defendants' reply due May 8 at 5:00 p.m.(Reminder: this is Guam local time.)

8 May 2015, Chief Judge Tydingco-Gatewood will not hold this case pending a decision from SCOTUS in the marriage cases. A hearing is set on the motions for summary judgment and preliminary injunction for Friday, June 5, at 9:30 am Guam time (Thursday, June 4, 7:30 pm EDT/4:30 pm PDT). In the order, the judge did grant the request for an extension of time to May 18 for defendants to respond to the complaint and the motions.

Ballot Initiatives - Pending

None.

Ballot Initiatives - Passed

None.

Polls

In a 2009 poll conducted by Pacific Daily News, 26% of Guamanians supported same-sex marriage, 27% supported same-sex domestic partnerships or civil unions, and 29% of responders said that there should be no legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Guam.

Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) was the grassroots movement to win marriage in the United States. With the U.S. Supreme Court victory on June 26, 2015 the work of the organization - though not the larger movement - was achieved and MEUSA ceased formal operations, closing in late 2017. For inquires please contact lovewins@marriageequality.org.